new england-style

Location: sussex size: 245m2 buiLd cost: £721,000

After years of living abroad, Gill and Roy Dance purchased an unloved ’50s house in Chichester. While the house benefited from a large 810m2 plot, the property needed a lot of work and a refurbishment didn’t make financial sense. After meeting Potton at the National Homebuilding & Renovating Show, they went to visit the Potton Show Centre in St Neots and speak with the company’s self-build consultants.

The couple selected a design from Potton’s brochure, which they modified and developed into a four-bed home, complete with a New Englandstyle weatherboard façade. Part of the brief was to

ensure the home was airtight, soundproofed and highly insulated. Potton designed in a mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system, underfloor heating, a solar thermal store, gas condensing boiler, LED lighting, a rainwater harvesting system and a woodburning stove with back boiler that would also provide hot water.

With Potton managing the planning and design process, the company was also able to point the couple in the direction of its builders. The builders were then tasked with demolishing the existing house and erecting the Potton frame once it arrived on site.

The finished home perfectly meets Roy and Gill’s brief for an open plan home which marries traditional and contemporary styles.